PRO FOOTBALL : Esiason, Jets Fumble One Away to Falcons, 13-3

Kevin Ross led Atlanta’s defense with a fumble recovery and interception and Jeff George threw for one touchdown as the Falcons beat the New York Jets, 13-3, Sunday.

Morten Andersen added field goals of 37 and 36 yards in the first and third quarters and the Falcons improved to 3-1.

“I guess I’m happy about it,” Ross said about the Falcons’ victory. “But, I’m not really satisfied with the performance, including mine. We’ve got to play better, we’ve got to play harder, we’ve got to play smarter.

“If we’re going to be a playoff team, we can’t talk about it. We got to demonstrate it.”

Ross foiled the Jets’ best touchdown opportunity with 6:32 remaining when he recovered Richie Anderson’s fumble in the end zone for a touchback that gave the Falcons the ball on the 20.

Anderson’s fumble came on New York’s third try from the Atlanta one, with defensive end Lester Archambeau stripping the ball on the play. New York (1-3) had reached the one on Boomer Esiason’s 32-yard pass to Wayne Chrebet.

“We held them to just one touchdown and two field goals and that’s good considering the pressure their offense applies to anybody,” Jet Coach Rich Kotite said. “We just had four turnovers that we couldn’t overcome today. These kinds of games are difficult because you hurt yourself.”

The Jets had another chance in the closing minutes, helped by a 38-yard interference penalty on Ron Davis that gave the Jets possession at the Atlanta 24. After reaching the Atlanta two, Esiason’s pass was intercepted by Ken Tippins in the end zone.

Ross also intercepted Esiason on the Atlanta six after the Jets had moved to the Atlanta 35 on the game’s first possession. Ross returned it 20 yards, starting the drive to Andersen’s first field goal, helped by George’s 44-yard pass to Bert Emanuel at the Jets’ 26.

George, who completed 22 of 35 for 225 yards, threw a four-yard scoring pass to Emanuel late in the second quarter that gave the Falcons a 10-3 lead.

“Thank God they don’t have an ugly win column,” Emanuel said. “If we didn’t win the game, we would have a different mind set right now. We know we have a lot more left to show.”

Esiason was 20 for 37 for 190 yards, but was intercepted three times, the other going to Terry Taylor, a long pass from the Atlanta 40 that Taylor grabbed before stepping out of bounds on the Atlanta one.

“Our opportunities met with disaster today,” Esiason said. “They created a lot of disruption. Give credit to their defense. They made some nice plays on us.”

Craig Heyward had 120 yards in 19 carries before leaving because of a sprained right knee in the second half for the Falcons. It was Heyward’s second consecutive game rushing for more than 100 yards, the first time by an Atlanta back since Mike Rozier did it in 1990. Heyward had 102 yards against New Orleans last week.

Andersen’s two field goals and his extra point meant he has scored in 178 consecutive games, eight shy of the NFL record of 186 held by Jim Breech.